Exerciser for paraplegic patients

ABSTRACT

An exercising chair having a plurality of suitable legs, a pair of arms, a seat, and a back; a frame including a pair of rectilinear bars fastened at each side of the chair to the legs distally below the chair seat, a pair of transverse bars disposed distally from one another and fastened to the rectilinear bars, and a centrally disposed beam fastened to the transverse bars, the beam running under the chair seat and projecting distally forwardly of the chair; a drive train including an electric motor fastened to the beam, a suitable control means operable to selectively control the motor, and gears and drive means operable to reduce speed of output rotation of the motor and to reduce the load on the motor; and a pair of pedals driven by the drive train, the pedals being disposed on the forwardmost terminal end of the beam.

United States Patent [191 Madison EXERCISER FOR PARAPLEGIC PATIENTS [76]Inventor: George L. Madison,

Weiser, Idaho 83672 [22] Filed: Nov. 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 203,097

[52] US. Cl. ..128/25 R [51] Int. Cl. .A6lh 1/02 [58] Field of Search..128/25 R, 25 B, 33; 272/73 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,261,355 11/1941 Flynn ..128/25 R 2,663,376 12/1953 Curley ...128/25 RX 3,216,722 11/1965 Odom ..128/25 R Prima Examiner:Lawi psqyyirite pmAttorney-John Wt Kraft Route 2, I

[ 1 May 1, 1973 l 7 ABSTRACT An exercising chair having a plurality ofsuitable legs, a pair of arms, a seat, and a back; a frame including apair of rectilinear bars fastened at each side of the chair to the legsdistally below the chair seat, a pair of transverse bars disposeddistally from one another and fastened to the rectilinear bars, and acentrally disposed beam fastened to the transverse bars, the beamrunning under the chair seat and projecting distally forwardly of thechair; a. drive train including an electric motor fastened to the beam,a suitable control means operable to selectively control the motor, andgears and drive means operable to reduce speed of output rotation of themotor and to reduce the load on the motor; and a pair of pedals drivenby the drive train, the pedals being disposed on the forwardmostterminal end of the beam. I

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 45-21mm! via-vani- Patented May 1, 1973 mllFIG. 3

GEORGE L. MADISON INVENTOR.

BYL%7 EXERCISER FOR PARAPLEGIC PATIENTS FIELD OF INVENTION The presentinvention relates to exercisers, andmore particularly to exercisers forparaplegic patients.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Means for providing exercise for paraplegicpatients, commonly used and employed, include various types of massageand physical motion of the patients legs. It is important that aparaplegic patient be provided with exercise to paralyzed portions ofhis body in order to maintain muscle tone and development. Physicalmassage has been provided by manual means and by a variety of mechanicalvibrators and similar devices. Means for exercising paraplegic patientsinvolving physical motion of the patient include manually moving adebilitated portion of the patients body by a therapist. Manual physicaltherapy requires highly skilled time-consuming labor. Mechanical therapyfor paraplegic patients tends to be of a far too simple mechanical sortto properly affect the muscles to b treated.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide meansfor exercising a paraplegic patient by mechanical means.

It is a further object of this invention to provide exerciser meansoperable to be selectively controllable for the amount and rateofexercise to be taken.

These and other objects shall become apparent from the descriptionfollowing, it being understood that modifications may be made withoutaffecting the teachings of the invention here set out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally, the exerciser of the presentinvention comprises a chair having a plurality of suitable legs, a pairof arms,.a seat, and a back; a frame including a pair of rectilinearbars fastened at each side of the chair to the legs distally below thechair seat, a pair of transverse bars disposed distally from one anotherand fastened to the rectilinear bars, and a centrally disposed beamfastened to the transverse bars, the

beam running under the chair seat and projecting distally forwardly ofthe chair; a drive train including an electric motor fastened to thebeam, a suitable control means operable to selective control the motorand gears and drive means operable to reduce speed of output rotation ofthe motor and to reduce the load on the motor; and a pair of pedalsdriven by the drive train, the pedals being disposed on the forwardmostterminal end of the beam.

A more thorough and comprehensive understanding may be had from thedetailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in connectionwith the drawings forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a right side elevationalview of the exerciser for paraplegic patients of this invention,including a portion of the drive chain of the chain guard cut away forillustrative purposes.

FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of the exerciser for paraplegicpatients of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the exerciser assembly drawn to a largerscale showing the drive trainof this invention with the chain guardbroken for illustrative purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings, and more particularly to the FIGS. 1 and 2, the exerciser forparaplegic patients of this invention is shown to advantage andidentified by the numeral 10. The exerciser 10 comprises a chair l1 andan exerciser assembly 12. The chair 11 provides the environment for theapparatus of the exerciser assembly 12. The chair 1 1 is operable tocarry a paraplegic patient and to hold him in a predetermined positionwith respect to the exerciser assembly 12. It has been found toadvantage to provide a safety belt 1 1' as a body-retaining means tohold the patient in a more specific relationship to the chair 11. Thechair 1 1 includes a four-legged frame 13, a seat 14, a back 15, andarms 16. The frame 13 may be fabricated from rigid members, such asmetal tubing, and may be provided with casters 17 operable to permit thepatient to be moved from one location to another while still seated inthe chair 11. The casters 17 may also be provided with selectivelylocking means operable to hold the chair 11 in its location. The seat 14and the back 15 may be provided with suitable padding to provide greaterpatient comfort. The chair 11 provides a frame for the exerciserassembly 12 by means of a pair of rectilinearly disposed channel members18 disposed parallelly to the floor distally below the seat 14 and apair of transversely disposed bars 19 disposed between the channelmembers 18 distally from each of the terminal ends of the channels 18.

The exerciser assembly 12 is generally carried on the frameformed by thechannels 18 and bars 19 by means of a centrally rectilinearly disposedmain beam 20 which is coextensive in length with the exerciser assembly12 and which projects distally forwardly of the chair 11. The exerciserassembly 12 comprises a drive train subassembly 21 and pedals 22. Thedrive train subassembly 21 comprises an electric motor 23, asheavesprocket 24, a main sprocket 25, an output sprocket 26, and apedal sprocket 27. The: motor 23 is provided with a rheostatic control23' which is operable to provide variable speed to the exerciser pedals22. The control 23' may be fastened to one of the arms 16. As shown moreclearly in the FIG. 3, the motor 23 is mounted at the rearwardmostterminal end of the beam 20. The motor 23 is provided with a suitablesheave 28. The sheave-sprocket 24 is disposed distally forwardly on thebeam 20 by means of a transversely disposed shaft 29 journaled forrotation in pillow box journal bearings 30. The sheave portion of thesheave-sprocket 24 is connected with the sheave 28 by means of a pulleybelt 31. The ratio of the respective sheaves 24 and 28 may be providedwith a comparatively small pulley radius for the motor sheave 28 and acomparative large main sprocket is in communication with the sprocketportion of the sheave-sprocket 24 by means of a chain 34. The ratiobetween the sprocket portion of the sheave-sprocket 24 is provided as acomparatively small sprocket radius for the sprocket portion of thesheave-sprocket 24 and a comparatively large sprocket radius for themain sprocket 25. The shaft 32 is also provided with a sprocket 35. Theoutput sprocket 26 is provided on a transversely disposed shaft 36journaled for rotation in pillow block journal bearings 37. The shaft 36is disposed distally forwardly of the shaft 32 on the beam 20. Thesprocket 35 and the output sprocket 26 are in communication by means ofa drive chain 38. The ratio between the sprocket 35 and the outputsprocket 26 is such that the sprocket 35 has a comparatively smallsprocket radius and the sprocket 26 has a comparatively large sprocketradius. The shaft 36 is provided at the terminal end opposite the outputsprocket 26 with a sprocket 39. The pedal sprocket 27 is provideddistally forwardly on a substantially S- shaped shaft journaled forrotation at the forwardmost terminal end of the beam 20. The sprocket 39and the pedal sprocket 27 are in communication by means of a suitabledrive chain 41. It is to be understood that the drive train subassembly21, set out above, is intended as a means of reducing load on the motor23.

The pedals 22 are a pair of suitable footrests operable to looselyretain a foot. The pedals 22 are journaled for rotation on thesubstantially S-shaped shaft 40 with each of the pedals 22 having theiraxis of rotation on the outermost projections of the shaft 40. Inpractice, it has been found to advantage to journal the pedals 22 on theshaft 40 in order to maintain an upward relationship over the cycleholding the patients feet perpendicular to the pedals 22. It has alsobeen found to advantage to provide extra foot-retaining means, such as aheel stop 22 at the rearwardmost terminal end of the pedal 22 and astrap 22" centrally of the pedal 22. The pedal sprocket 27 is carriedrectilinearly on the central portion of the S-shaped shaft 40. Thepedals 22 are projected on the beam 20 at a predetermined distance andat a predetermined height from the seat 14. It is to be understood thatthe length of the chain 41 is determined by the length by which the beam20 is projected out from the chair 1 1. It has been found to advantageto provide a chain guard 42 coextensive in length with the projectingportion of the beam 20 to protect the patient.

In operation, the patient is placed into the exerciser 10 with his feetplaced upon the pedals 22. The patient may then actuate the exerciserassembly 12 by selecting a suitable motor speed by the rheostat 23'. Thepatient may continue at the same selected speed or at a differentselected speed.

Having thus described in detail a preferred apparatus which embodies theconcepts and principles of the invention and which accomplishes thevarious objects, purposes and aims thereof, it is to be appreciated andwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changescould be made in the apparatus without altering the inventive conceptsand principles embodied therein. Hence, it is intended that the scope ofthe invention be limited only to the extent indicated in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. Anexerciser for Paraplegic patients, comprising a chair having a purality of suitable legs, a pair of arms, a seat, and a back, said seathaving body retaining means;

a frame including a pair of rectilinear channel members fastened at eachside of said chair to said legs distally below said chair seat, a pairof transverse bars disposed distally from one another and fastened tosaid rectilinear channels, and a centrally disposed rectilinear beamfastened to said transverse bars, said beam running under said chairseat and projecting distally forwardly of said chair;

a drive train including an electric motor fastened to said beam, asuitable control means operable to selectively control said motor, andgears and drive means operable to reduce speed of output rotation ofsaid motor and to reduce load on said motor; and

a pair of pedals driven by said drive train, said pedals being disposedon the forwardmost terminal end of said beam and having foot-retainingmeans.

1. An exerciser for paraplegic patients, comprising a chair having aplurality of suitable legs, a pair of arms, a seat, and a back, saidseat having body retaining means; a frame including a pair ofrectilinear channel members fastened at each side of said chair to saidlegs distally below said chair seat, a pair of transverse bars disposeddistally from one another and fastened to said rectilinear channels, anda centrally disposed rectilinear beam fastened to said transverse bars,said beam running under said chair seat and projecting distallyforwardly of said chair; a drive train including an electric motorfastened to said beam, a suitable control means operable to selectivelycontrol said motor, and gears and drive means operable to reduce speedof output rotation of said motor and to reduce load on said motor; and apair of pedals driven by said drive train, said pedals being disposed onthe forwardmost terminal end of said beam and having foot-retainingmeans.